Readers Take HR To Task

Published Sunday November 11, 2012 at 6:00 am

Judging by emails I receive, HR staff and hiring managers have quite a bit to learn about hiring: Evelyn writes: "This is the second company I interviewed with where the hiring manager asked me for a copy of my resume. This really comes off as unprepared and unprofessional." Raymond wrote, "The first thing the interviewer said was 'You're overqualified.' It was apparent that she hadn't even looked at my resume before the interview. If she had, why bother to waste our time?"

Judging by emails I receive, HR staff and hiring managers have quite a bit to learn about hiring: Evelyn writes: "This is the second company I interviewed with where the hiring manager asked me for a copy of my resume. This really comes off as unprepared and unprofessional." Raymond wrote, "The first thing the interviewer said was 'You're overqualified.' It was apparent that she hadn't even looked at my resume before the interview. If she had, why bother to waste our time?"

Michael's interview was interrupted six times by phone calls and email pings that "the interviewer responded to like one of Pavlov's dogs." Megan interviewed for an HR position; an HR interviewer couldn't tell her what the company's Mission Statement was.

Juanita went through three rounds of panel interviews for a manager's job, sent thank you notes to panel members each time, placed a follow-up call based on the decision timeline provided by HR and never heard from the company. Pam was asked: "Do you plan on having children?" To her credit, she walked out of the interview.

There were 21 more emails like these that pointed out that while employers want applicants to "be prepared", interviewers are unprepared and that hiring processes send the "employers hold all the cards" message to applicants. What employers like these don't understand is that they'll never hire the best candidates, and that candidates encountering unprofessional practices will spread the word.

HR needs to teach hiring managers about interviewing. Why? Managers don't spend enough time to really become proficient. A manager who works 2,080 hours (i.e. puts in no overtime - that's a laugh) and spends 40 hours spread over the course of the year interviewing, spends only 1.92 percent of her/his time hiring people. It's difficult to become good at anything if you spend less than two percent of your time doing it.

Managers need to know that interviewing is far more than asking questions. It's about asking the "right" questions. Depending on the candidate and the job, the "right" questions may change. HR should help managers prepare questions, and ensure that there's a common thread to questions so all candidates are evaluated on the same basis. HR should also advise managers about questions they can't ask.

The interviewing process starts with a discussion with HR about each applicant's resume and any notes of conversations HR has had with the applicant prior to the interview. Hiring managers should make notes and read them and the candidate's resume just before the interview.

HR should prepare managers to be interviewed by the candidates, too. Hiring managers must sell the candidate on coming to work for the organization. If they can't, they will lose the best candidates. When in interviewing mode, managers must scour the company Web site. Why? The great applicants did. That's where they get most of the information about the firm. That's where they're getting their questions.

On the courtesy front, there are three things to remember: 1. NOTHING should interrupt an interview - no calls, turn off the email ping, no knocks on the door, no music. 2. Candidates understand that timelines slip. If you tell a candidate two weeks and you get a call, return it. 3. If you know the candidate isn't being considered, send a letter.

Richard sent an email complaining about the fact that HR pitches unsolicited resumes. He maintains that HR could be missing "gold". The inefficient cost of mining candidate gold is the reason for pitching unsolicited resumes. Let's say a large company receives 300 unsolicited resumes each week and it takes someone three minutes to go through each resume. That totals 15 hours each week; this translates to 37.5% of one person's time during the year looking for a little gold. Alternatively, the company can place an ad when the need arises, and spend less time sorting through many qualified candidates.